Clawing to escape the belly of the beast here in Hollywood. To commiserate, email my name assistantatlas at yahoo.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

The Hollywood Stock Exchange: 2.09

It's a pretty interesting little game they've got going at hsx.com. For those not in the know, this is an online site where you can trade in your favorite movies, stars and more. No real money is exchanged, although you can use your HSX dollars to purchase nifty hats and mugs with the HSX logo and such. Like the Poop on Ryan Seacrest's Star Contest, the fun isn't to be had in the prizes-- it's to be had in the doing.

The fun comes from being able to scream things like "Stupid Jeremy Piven! I should've sold you when I had the chance!" And to get frustrated, like real studio execs, when your pet project-- the one you bought shares of when it was $1.00 and didn't seem like it would get made-- doesn't get a theatrical release, dooming the project as far as HSX is concerned.

There's lots of interesting put/call options. This is where you can essentially make a stock market bet on how well a movie is going to do. I recently made bundle when I bought a $35 million weekend Call option on Mr. and Mrs. Smith-- which cost me $3.50 and paid out around $15 [because the movie opened at about $50]. Sadly, I didn't buy a ton of it. But hey, it's not real money, so I can't really care.

The system is pretty interesting overall-- I remember it was a pretty sad/basic affair when it first launched. They used to have a ticker somewhere, too, perhaps along Santa Monica, maybe? At any rate, having been around for awhile [roomie played in college a lot] it's now has a pretty slick set-up. Also, it's pretty easy to play, even if you have [like me] no stock market experience whatsoever.

So if you're bored, and if you're reading this blog, chances are you might be, then you might sign up for HSX. It's free and a great time-killer.